Wow! Thats a huge Persian Empire, now go for Anatolia and Greece (don't recreate Thermopylae..) 
Nice job!
asd
Nice job!
asd-
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Thanks everyone for keeping up! 1860-1870 is turning out to be something of a slow decade, so I'm still figuring out how to compile the next entry. Stay tuned for more alternate history fun.
Holly smoke!
That is one big piece of land!
Certainly I know now which country is next on my list: to play. Cheers!
That is one big piece of land!
Certainly I know now which country is next on my list: to play. Cheers!
Chapter 5: The Miracles
1860 opened with what would become one of the defining conflicts of the 19th Century: The American Civil War. What started as an internal war of secession essentially became a world war as the Americans sought to not only return their rebellious states to the fold but also declared war on Canada and, by extension, the rest of the British Empire. By 1861 Confederate forces controlled the southern 2/3 of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and had conquered Missouri and large swaths of Iowa, while the British occupied Maine, Connecticut, and Delaware. By 1865, following what is perhaps the single greatest military miracle in recorded history, the United States had not only subdued the Confederates, but had conquered Canada as well. War with Britain would continue for another few years, but consisted only of repelling halfhearted landings on the east coast and vacillating movements in British Columbia. By 1870, American control of North America was considered absolute. As a further humiliation to Britain, the war with the Americans had left them so weak in the western hemisphere that they were unable to subdue even Mexico, which had declared war following a British bombardment of the Yucatan. They accepted a white peace after 4 years of fighting, and British power in the Western Hemisphere came to an end. The miraculous American victory in the civil war was closely watched by Persian leadership, and taken as sign of the natural supremacy of democracy and freedom, and as a sign of what to do with the slave issue they had inherited in Khiva. On September 7th, 1870, the Republic declared slavery to be illegal, freeing thousands of ethnic Persians and Russians kept in bondage in Khiva with compensation.
It during this period that the Republic's potential began to come into full flower. The character of the nation would further take shape, being guided by bureaucracy, meritocracy, populism, and a continued shift away from anti-clericalism that began following the Terror. Improvements in agricultural and resource production expanded the Persian economy, allowing the republic to gradually begin reinvesting in crime fighting measures and begin to rid itself of the endemic corruption that had been the hallmark of Persian government for centuries. And Persia's military power continued to expand. In 1864 military parity with Russia was reached with the creation of the Army of Punjab. At this point, the Republic ran into geographical barriers to continued growth: further enhancement of Persian power would require joining Arabia to Persia via Iraq, as well as taking control of the Suez Canal from Egypt, both of which would require war with the Ottomans. The moment of truth had come, and the world’s foremost Muslim powers would now fight to see which was dominant.
War with Egypt was declared on August 23rd, 1874. The Ottomans quickly responded by declaring war on Persia the same day. Persian troops quickly began to pour into Iraq, and into Ottoman-held Arabia, but two challenges quickly presented themselves: the Ottomans had managed to reinforce their divisions to full strength faster than Persian generals had anticipated, and they were better trained than thought. Despite these disadvantages, the turks spent the remainder of 1874 in retreat: Persian troops entered Baghdad on October 5th, and Basra on the 26th. By December 31st, Persian troops controlled Karbala, along with the rest of Ottoman Iraq.
Unfortunately, 1875 proved to be a less fortuitous year. The invasion of the Sinai Peninsula had bogged down badly in the face of very stiff Egyptian resistance, and the ottoman fleet prevented reinforcement by sea from the still tiny Persian navy. Advances were being made through Petra and Al-Aqaba, but reinforcements would not arrive in time to prevent the destruction of the Army of Arabia. Even then, Persian forces would not be able to seize the Sinai from Egypt until June 1875. Of course Egypt had only managed to last that long by throwing nearly the entirety of its army into the peninsula; once it fell Persian forces easily advanced and took Cairo in August, knocking Egypt out of the war and giving Persia control of the Sinai Peninsula, and consequently, the Suez Canal.
In the meantime, the Persian advance against the Ottomans continued, but at a much slower pace. As they retreated, the Turks extracted an extremely high price for their territory. Damascus, Ezurum, and Sivas became slaughterhouses. By the middle of 1876 both nations were nearly exhausted; the Ottomans were running out of reserves and the Persians were largely fighting with drafted troops and the civilian population on both sides was growing increasingly resistant to continuing the war. With the shaky Persian advance now stalled but holding Ankara and Bolu, the Ottomans offered an acceptable peace deal on December 23, 1876. The Ottoman-Persian border was radically altered, and both sides claimed successes: The Ottomans had prevented the surrender of any major cities to the enemy, and Al-Aqaba still stood between the Sinai Peninsula and the rest of Persian territory. But it was the Republic that was truly victorious: Ottoman military strength had been halved, and the surrender of Southern Iraq joined Persian Arabia with the rest of the country, and turned Basra into a fragile ottoman pocket. Persia also won an important propaganda victory by gaining the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In addition, the Serbs had taken advantage of the Ottomans’ plight to declare war in mid-1876. Joined by Montenegro and, more importantly, Russia, the Ottomans called for an armistice within a week. Both of the little Balkan nations gained territory, and Austrian opportunism forced the surrender of Bosnia. It was a series of disasters from which the Ottomans would never recover.
Persia now faced tests of her own, though. The British East India Company, having partitioned the remains of Yemen with the Ottomans in 1867, now sought to take advantage of Persia’s weakened position to consolidate power over the Arabian Peninsula. However, Persia would have 3 key advantages in this war: the Company only declared a colonial war, preventing an invasion from India itself, the British themselves opted not to intervene at all, and the Russians proved far less reticent. Although the Army of Sind was destroyed in the initial invasion of Yemen, further weakening an already severely reduced Persian army, the Armies of Persia and Punjab successfully dislodged the Company from Hadramaut, took Schibam, and marched upon Aden. They would never arrive. In November 1877 the Russo-Turkish war erupted. Eager to end the Persian-Indian war and focus their efforts upon the ottomans, the Russians brokered a peace that, on November 7, 1877, declared the Russo-Persian alliance the victor and gave the city of Hadramaut to the Republic.
By 1880, Persia had at last emerged the undisputed master of its own domain, able to both defend itself and project power across the region. The Republic remained somewhat fragile in the wake of back to back wars, but was no longer a simple pushover, but a nation to be reckoned with. But with Britain an inconstant friend and Russia still comparatively weak, Persia was in need of new allies. Another democracy, another rising star, would prove fertile ground for friendly relations. And so Persian diplomats began to appear with increasing frequency on the streets of Washington and New York.
And it was also nation still evolving. After decades of conservative rule, the call of socialism had begun to reverberate in the Republic’s lower classes…
The Persian Republic in 1880, Victorious Over Its Rivals
1860 opened with what would become one of the defining conflicts of the 19th Century: The American Civil War. What started as an internal war of secession essentially became a world war as the Americans sought to not only return their rebellious states to the fold but also declared war on Canada and, by extension, the rest of the British Empire. By 1861 Confederate forces controlled the southern 2/3 of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and had conquered Missouri and large swaths of Iowa, while the British occupied Maine, Connecticut, and Delaware. By 1865, following what is perhaps the single greatest military miracle in recorded history, the United States had not only subdued the Confederates, but had conquered Canada as well. War with Britain would continue for another few years, but consisted only of repelling halfhearted landings on the east coast and vacillating movements in British Columbia. By 1870, American control of North America was considered absolute. As a further humiliation to Britain, the war with the Americans had left them so weak in the western hemisphere that they were unable to subdue even Mexico, which had declared war following a British bombardment of the Yucatan. They accepted a white peace after 4 years of fighting, and British power in the Western Hemisphere came to an end. The miraculous American victory in the civil war was closely watched by Persian leadership, and taken as sign of the natural supremacy of democracy and freedom, and as a sign of what to do with the slave issue they had inherited in Khiva. On September 7th, 1870, the Republic declared slavery to be illegal, freeing thousands of ethnic Persians and Russians kept in bondage in Khiva with compensation.
It during this period that the Republic's potential began to come into full flower. The character of the nation would further take shape, being guided by bureaucracy, meritocracy, populism, and a continued shift away from anti-clericalism that began following the Terror. Improvements in agricultural and resource production expanded the Persian economy, allowing the republic to gradually begin reinvesting in crime fighting measures and begin to rid itself of the endemic corruption that had been the hallmark of Persian government for centuries. And Persia's military power continued to expand. In 1864 military parity with Russia was reached with the creation of the Army of Punjab. At this point, the Republic ran into geographical barriers to continued growth: further enhancement of Persian power would require joining Arabia to Persia via Iraq, as well as taking control of the Suez Canal from Egypt, both of which would require war with the Ottomans. The moment of truth had come, and the world’s foremost Muslim powers would now fight to see which was dominant.
War with Egypt was declared on August 23rd, 1874. The Ottomans quickly responded by declaring war on Persia the same day. Persian troops quickly began to pour into Iraq, and into Ottoman-held Arabia, but two challenges quickly presented themselves: the Ottomans had managed to reinforce their divisions to full strength faster than Persian generals had anticipated, and they were better trained than thought. Despite these disadvantages, the turks spent the remainder of 1874 in retreat: Persian troops entered Baghdad on October 5th, and Basra on the 26th. By December 31st, Persian troops controlled Karbala, along with the rest of Ottoman Iraq.
Unfortunately, 1875 proved to be a less fortuitous year. The invasion of the Sinai Peninsula had bogged down badly in the face of very stiff Egyptian resistance, and the ottoman fleet prevented reinforcement by sea from the still tiny Persian navy. Advances were being made through Petra and Al-Aqaba, but reinforcements would not arrive in time to prevent the destruction of the Army of Arabia. Even then, Persian forces would not be able to seize the Sinai from Egypt until June 1875. Of course Egypt had only managed to last that long by throwing nearly the entirety of its army into the peninsula; once it fell Persian forces easily advanced and took Cairo in August, knocking Egypt out of the war and giving Persia control of the Sinai Peninsula, and consequently, the Suez Canal.
In the meantime, the Persian advance against the Ottomans continued, but at a much slower pace. As they retreated, the Turks extracted an extremely high price for their territory. Damascus, Ezurum, and Sivas became slaughterhouses. By the middle of 1876 both nations were nearly exhausted; the Ottomans were running out of reserves and the Persians were largely fighting with drafted troops and the civilian population on both sides was growing increasingly resistant to continuing the war. With the shaky Persian advance now stalled but holding Ankara and Bolu, the Ottomans offered an acceptable peace deal on December 23, 1876. The Ottoman-Persian border was radically altered, and both sides claimed successes: The Ottomans had prevented the surrender of any major cities to the enemy, and Al-Aqaba still stood between the Sinai Peninsula and the rest of Persian territory. But it was the Republic that was truly victorious: Ottoman military strength had been halved, and the surrender of Southern Iraq joined Persian Arabia with the rest of the country, and turned Basra into a fragile ottoman pocket. Persia also won an important propaganda victory by gaining the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. In addition, the Serbs had taken advantage of the Ottomans’ plight to declare war in mid-1876. Joined by Montenegro and, more importantly, Russia, the Ottomans called for an armistice within a week. Both of the little Balkan nations gained territory, and Austrian opportunism forced the surrender of Bosnia. It was a series of disasters from which the Ottomans would never recover.
Persia now faced tests of her own, though. The British East India Company, having partitioned the remains of Yemen with the Ottomans in 1867, now sought to take advantage of Persia’s weakened position to consolidate power over the Arabian Peninsula. However, Persia would have 3 key advantages in this war: the Company only declared a colonial war, preventing an invasion from India itself, the British themselves opted not to intervene at all, and the Russians proved far less reticent. Although the Army of Sind was destroyed in the initial invasion of Yemen, further weakening an already severely reduced Persian army, the Armies of Persia and Punjab successfully dislodged the Company from Hadramaut, took Schibam, and marched upon Aden. They would never arrive. In November 1877 the Russo-Turkish war erupted. Eager to end the Persian-Indian war and focus their efforts upon the ottomans, the Russians brokered a peace that, on November 7, 1877, declared the Russo-Persian alliance the victor and gave the city of Hadramaut to the Republic.
By 1880, Persia had at last emerged the undisputed master of its own domain, able to both defend itself and project power across the region. The Republic remained somewhat fragile in the wake of back to back wars, but was no longer a simple pushover, but a nation to be reckoned with. But with Britain an inconstant friend and Russia still comparatively weak, Persia was in need of new allies. Another democracy, another rising star, would prove fertile ground for friendly relations. And so Persian diplomats began to appear with increasing frequency on the streets of Washington and New York.
And it was also nation still evolving. After decades of conservative rule, the call of socialism had begun to reverberate in the Republic’s lower classes…
The Persian Republic in 1880, Victorious Over Its Rivals
Robou: I have plans for borders that I beleive you will find far more aesthetically pleasing
A communist persia now that would really be a sight.
Great AAR I really like persia, it has a lot of potential.
Great AAR I really like persia, it has a lot of potential.
Well if the people demand it I guess I'll have to pick this game back up . I bogged down last time trying to figure out the narrative for the next section, I'll plow through it and hopefully have the next installment up soon!
. I bogged down last time trying to figure out the narrative for the next section, I'll plow through it and hopefully have the next installment up soon!
Chaper 6: Forward the Revolution
The wars with the Ottomans and the Company required the Republic to back off it’s timetable for expansion in order to consolidate, but the nation could ill-afford to remain idle: Afghanistan remained restive and the rest of the nation still suffered from anti-war riots. Although the army restored all but the still-defunct Army of Sind to full strength within a few years and held the peace until the population calmed, the conservative government could not survive another mass uprising. However, the Republic would need to first finish what it had begun.
In late November 1881 the Ottomans experienced a financial crisis so severe they were forced to accept foreign oversight of their treasury. A further blow was dealt 7 months later when, on June 26th 1882, Britain went to war with Egypt. The Ottomans still being unable to balance their own budget, let alone defend their satellite against the world’s foremost military power, declared themselves neutral, a severe humiliation for Ottoman prestige. Seizing the opportunity of both a distracted Britain and a severely weakened neighbor, the Republic declared war on the Ottomans once more on June 26th, having only received word that the British had gone to war with Egypt and assuming the Ottomans would also be invaded. The later revelation of their neutrality would be inconvenient but largely irrelevant to the end result. Within a month the Ottoman pocket in Basrah had collapsed, Egypt was a British satellite, and Persian armies were advancing on northern Iraq and attempting to join hands with the Sinai provinces. Unlike in the previous war, the Turks were no longer in a position to offer resistance. Within 6 months the front had advanced through Syria and Palestine. On January 27th 1883, Persian forces occupied Lebanon, which was annexed to the Republic 2 days later, ending the last traces of Ottoman hegemony in their southeast flank. Persia advanced quickly and occupied the entirety of the Empire’s asian territory. However, the Republic still lacked enough naval power to punch through the Ottoman navy, cross the Bosporous, and deliver the deathblow by occupying Istanbul itself. On December 28th, 1883, the war ended with the Ottomans surrendering the remainder of what Persia had sought to conquer the first time: Northern Iraq, the province of Al-Aqaba, the last Ottoman gulf port at Basrah, and the remains of their Arabian territories.
The wars had placed Persia much higher in the world: control of the Sinai Peninsula placed her astride the single most critical shipping channel on Earth and gave her control of the northern entrance to the Red Sea. With the European Great Powers carving up Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the Republic decided the next target would be the Horn of Africa, which would not only grant her some control over the sea’s southern straights but also provide an opening in which to participate in the unfolding Scramble for Africa. Majerteyn conveniently went bankrupt in February of 1884, giving the Republic the necessary pretext for invasion. After allowing enough time for regrouping and rebuilding following the Second Ottoman War, Persia declared war on Majerteyn on January 15th 1885. 5 months later they became the first overseas territory of the Persian Republic.
Despite these successes, one last major military challenge remained. Persia had always viewed the unoccupied regions in Semireche and Turkmenistan as it’s own territory, and intended to occupy them as soon as was possible. Unfortunately the Russians had other ideas. Persia had previously purchased territorial rights to the province of Taldyqorghan, but Semey now lay under Russian control. And they were rapidly occupying the entire state of Turkestan. If action was not taken before October 1887 they would gain control of the entire state. With relations rapidly deteriorating and the Russians now unwilling to back down in the face of what they viewed as ingratitude, Persia began preparations. Even with the advantage of greater military strength Russia would be a formidable foe: their troops were possessed of some of the most fanatical morale on earth, with them so heavily dug in along the border a trap would need to be set…
First, to provide further training to recently reinforced armies and demonstrate that Persia meant business, as well as to finalize consolidation of the Arabian Peninsula before the Company began to get ideas, war was declared on Oman, the last free state in Arabia, on August 1st, 1886. Persia’s armies performed admirably, and had the country wrapped up in 4 months. Oman ceased to exist on December 11th, 1886. The show of force, unfortunately, would prove unsuccessful in swaying Russia from their goals in Central Asia. Final attempts at a peaceful settlement from both sides failed, and on February 26th, 1887, seeing no other options remaining, Persia declared war on Russia.
Persian strategy was two pronged: in the east, the goal was to sweep across Russia’s claims and seize them, then either fall back and lure Russian troops into Persian territory and away from their positions, or invade Russia itself if the opportunity presented itself. The same doctrine held in the west with more emphasis on the latter strategy, although caution would need to be exercised until reserves could be deployed. Initially the Army of Afghanistan managed to seize Semey, allowing Persia to lay claim to Semireche, before invading Russia through Barnaul. The 3rd corps, an army maintained for internal defense in the east, slowly worked its way through Turkestan, while in the east the armies of Arabia, Punjab, and Persia lured Russian forces from the border into Ahar and Khvoy, opening gaps in the lines at Agdam and Erevan. As the Persians advanced into the Caucasus, the Russians became trapped in pockets in Erevan and Astara. Meanwhile Persia managed to not only hold in the east, but push slightly into Siberia and the provinces of Uralsk. The Caucasus pockets collapsed in early December 1887, and Persia continued to slowly but surely advance. By early 1888 both fronts had stalled, and though the Russians might have been able to push the Persians back the cost was judged to be too high, to say nothing of the humiliation that would come from an unlikely, but uncomfortably possible deeper Persian invasion should the Russian lines break. On March 21st, Russia sued for peace, surrendering the provinces of Astara, Agdam, Baku, and Erevan (which was a short time later exchanged for naxcivan) and recognizing Persia’s new borders in both the east and west. Persian tacticians had proved victorious and demonstrated what was once unthinkable: Russia could be defeated in a two-front war, once thought to be only Germany’s primary Achilles heel. And the standing Persian army emerged from the steppes not only victorious, but whole. The same could not be said of the Czar’s armies, which had suffered significant losses in the rapid Persian advance. For the moment, the Republic would face no threat from the north.
The Russo-Persian War on the eve of peace
However, there were still very serious problems to deal with. Several nearly consecutive wars had saddled Persia with an enormous debt that she was only very slowly paying off. But the population had reached the breaking point: exhausted with a government that plunged them into constant warfare, they had already begun to rise as the Russian campaign was waged. While the returning armies put down these revolts in short order, the passage of time had given the rabble other tools with which to oppose their governors. Socialism had already found a home in disenfranchised Punjab. Seeing a generation of uprisings attempting independence come to nothing, modern agitators decided to work within the system. In November, workers shut down the entire state, refusing to return to their posts until new, free, and fair elections were held. Not that any Persian election to this point had been obviously fraudulent, but the conservative party had been in power since the revolution and their grip on what was ostensibly a democratic nation had begun to chafe. The idea caught and within weeks stoppages had begun in Afghanistan, Sind, and Kashmir. By January 1889, with every major state striking and the economy rapidly collapsing, the conservatives relented and held an early general election. On October 2, 1889, the ruling Conservative Dastebandi-ye Padeshah suffered its first electoral defeat since the revolution at the hands of the Socialist Hezb-e Jamegaraye, running on a platform of full rights for all citizens of the Republic and keeping the nation strong but peaceful. Even as 1889 become 1890 the changes they would unleash upon Persia were already beginning, with once silent factories in the eastern states slowly but finally coming online, filled with workers from all of the republic's many tribes. It was a humble beginning to what was to come, and a sign of how far the nation had yet to go...
The Persian Republic in 1890
The wars with the Ottomans and the Company required the Republic to back off it’s timetable for expansion in order to consolidate, but the nation could ill-afford to remain idle: Afghanistan remained restive and the rest of the nation still suffered from anti-war riots. Although the army restored all but the still-defunct Army of Sind to full strength within a few years and held the peace until the population calmed, the conservative government could not survive another mass uprising. However, the Republic would need to first finish what it had begun.
In late November 1881 the Ottomans experienced a financial crisis so severe they were forced to accept foreign oversight of their treasury. A further blow was dealt 7 months later when, on June 26th 1882, Britain went to war with Egypt. The Ottomans still being unable to balance their own budget, let alone defend their satellite against the world’s foremost military power, declared themselves neutral, a severe humiliation for Ottoman prestige. Seizing the opportunity of both a distracted Britain and a severely weakened neighbor, the Republic declared war on the Ottomans once more on June 26th, having only received word that the British had gone to war with Egypt and assuming the Ottomans would also be invaded. The later revelation of their neutrality would be inconvenient but largely irrelevant to the end result. Within a month the Ottoman pocket in Basrah had collapsed, Egypt was a British satellite, and Persian armies were advancing on northern Iraq and attempting to join hands with the Sinai provinces. Unlike in the previous war, the Turks were no longer in a position to offer resistance. Within 6 months the front had advanced through Syria and Palestine. On January 27th 1883, Persian forces occupied Lebanon, which was annexed to the Republic 2 days later, ending the last traces of Ottoman hegemony in their southeast flank. Persia advanced quickly and occupied the entirety of the Empire’s asian territory. However, the Republic still lacked enough naval power to punch through the Ottoman navy, cross the Bosporous, and deliver the deathblow by occupying Istanbul itself. On December 28th, 1883, the war ended with the Ottomans surrendering the remainder of what Persia had sought to conquer the first time: Northern Iraq, the province of Al-Aqaba, the last Ottoman gulf port at Basrah, and the remains of their Arabian territories.
The wars had placed Persia much higher in the world: control of the Sinai Peninsula placed her astride the single most critical shipping channel on Earth and gave her control of the northern entrance to the Red Sea. With the European Great Powers carving up Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the Republic decided the next target would be the Horn of Africa, which would not only grant her some control over the sea’s southern straights but also provide an opening in which to participate in the unfolding Scramble for Africa. Majerteyn conveniently went bankrupt in February of 1884, giving the Republic the necessary pretext for invasion. After allowing enough time for regrouping and rebuilding following the Second Ottoman War, Persia declared war on Majerteyn on January 15th 1885. 5 months later they became the first overseas territory of the Persian Republic.
Despite these successes, one last major military challenge remained. Persia had always viewed the unoccupied regions in Semireche and Turkmenistan as it’s own territory, and intended to occupy them as soon as was possible. Unfortunately the Russians had other ideas. Persia had previously purchased territorial rights to the province of Taldyqorghan, but Semey now lay under Russian control. And they were rapidly occupying the entire state of Turkestan. If action was not taken before October 1887 they would gain control of the entire state. With relations rapidly deteriorating and the Russians now unwilling to back down in the face of what they viewed as ingratitude, Persia began preparations. Even with the advantage of greater military strength Russia would be a formidable foe: their troops were possessed of some of the most fanatical morale on earth, with them so heavily dug in along the border a trap would need to be set…
First, to provide further training to recently reinforced armies and demonstrate that Persia meant business, as well as to finalize consolidation of the Arabian Peninsula before the Company began to get ideas, war was declared on Oman, the last free state in Arabia, on August 1st, 1886. Persia’s armies performed admirably, and had the country wrapped up in 4 months. Oman ceased to exist on December 11th, 1886. The show of force, unfortunately, would prove unsuccessful in swaying Russia from their goals in Central Asia. Final attempts at a peaceful settlement from both sides failed, and on February 26th, 1887, seeing no other options remaining, Persia declared war on Russia.
Persian strategy was two pronged: in the east, the goal was to sweep across Russia’s claims and seize them, then either fall back and lure Russian troops into Persian territory and away from their positions, or invade Russia itself if the opportunity presented itself. The same doctrine held in the west with more emphasis on the latter strategy, although caution would need to be exercised until reserves could be deployed. Initially the Army of Afghanistan managed to seize Semey, allowing Persia to lay claim to Semireche, before invading Russia through Barnaul. The 3rd corps, an army maintained for internal defense in the east, slowly worked its way through Turkestan, while in the east the armies of Arabia, Punjab, and Persia lured Russian forces from the border into Ahar and Khvoy, opening gaps in the lines at Agdam and Erevan. As the Persians advanced into the Caucasus, the Russians became trapped in pockets in Erevan and Astara. Meanwhile Persia managed to not only hold in the east, but push slightly into Siberia and the provinces of Uralsk. The Caucasus pockets collapsed in early December 1887, and Persia continued to slowly but surely advance. By early 1888 both fronts had stalled, and though the Russians might have been able to push the Persians back the cost was judged to be too high, to say nothing of the humiliation that would come from an unlikely, but uncomfortably possible deeper Persian invasion should the Russian lines break. On March 21st, Russia sued for peace, surrendering the provinces of Astara, Agdam, Baku, and Erevan (which was a short time later exchanged for naxcivan) and recognizing Persia’s new borders in both the east and west. Persian tacticians had proved victorious and demonstrated what was once unthinkable: Russia could be defeated in a two-front war, once thought to be only Germany’s primary Achilles heel. And the standing Persian army emerged from the steppes not only victorious, but whole. The same could not be said of the Czar’s armies, which had suffered significant losses in the rapid Persian advance. For the moment, the Republic would face no threat from the north.
The Russo-Persian War on the eve of peace
However, there were still very serious problems to deal with. Several nearly consecutive wars had saddled Persia with an enormous debt that she was only very slowly paying off. But the population had reached the breaking point: exhausted with a government that plunged them into constant warfare, they had already begun to rise as the Russian campaign was waged. While the returning armies put down these revolts in short order, the passage of time had given the rabble other tools with which to oppose their governors. Socialism had already found a home in disenfranchised Punjab. Seeing a generation of uprisings attempting independence come to nothing, modern agitators decided to work within the system. In November, workers shut down the entire state, refusing to return to their posts until new, free, and fair elections were held. Not that any Persian election to this point had been obviously fraudulent, but the conservative party had been in power since the revolution and their grip on what was ostensibly a democratic nation had begun to chafe. The idea caught and within weeks stoppages had begun in Afghanistan, Sind, and Kashmir. By January 1889, with every major state striking and the economy rapidly collapsing, the conservatives relented and held an early general election. On October 2, 1889, the ruling Conservative Dastebandi-ye Padeshah suffered its first electoral defeat since the revolution at the hands of the Socialist Hezb-e Jamegaraye, running on a platform of full rights for all citizens of the Republic and keeping the nation strong but peaceful. Even as 1889 become 1890 the changes they would unleash upon Persia were already beginning, with once silent factories in the eastern states slowly but finally coming online, filled with workers from all of the republic's many tribes. It was a humble beginning to what was to come, and a sign of how far the nation had yet to go...
The Persian Republic in 1890
Looks like your industrial base is the only thing holding you back from being a Great Power. How much of your population is state cultures? Some shots of demographics would be nice
I really like the borders a lot.
FUll conquest of arabia and advance down the caucasus. Ofcourse you can also pick on the sick man of europe. The horne of africa is yours to play with.
I would really like to see a industrialised persia so make my wish come true.
FUll conquest of arabia and advance down the caucasus. Ofcourse you can also pick on the sick man of europe. The horne of africa is yours to play with.
I would really like to see a industrialised persia so make my wish come true.
You've got Mecca, Medina and Kerbala. Only Jerusalem is missing!
(Yeah, I know I've already commented, but...)
(Yeah, I know I've already commented, but...
)It's baaack!!
I really really like the way your Persia is going. Go Persian socialism! Unite the Middle East!
I really really like the way your Persia is going. Go Persian socialism! Unite the Middle East!
I'm impressed! I have to say, I'm amazed that you managed to make a Persian republic work, but it doesn't seem to have presented as many difficulties as I thought it would.
Zanzibar? It had a historical Perisan presence
Zanzibar? It had a historical Perisan presence